The big screen adaptation of The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe – CS Lewis’ first book in his much beloved series – hit all the right notes this weekend opening in cinemas across the UK to the staggering tune of £8,039,600 in just 3 days: THE HIGHEST OPENING WEEKEND IN BUENA VISTA INTERNATIONAL (UK)’s HISTORY EVER!
The magical children’s classic beat the comparable 3 day weekend figures for every other Disney branded movie including the hugely successful Disney / Pixar’s Toy Story 2 which went on to gross £44 million in the UK; as well as topping the first in The Lord of the Rings franchise The Fellowship of the Ring AND the first in the Star Wars franchise The Phantom Menace which took £7.2 million and £7.5 million respectively. The Chronicles of Narnia also held the highest Thursday previews in BVI UK’s history, bringing the 4 day cumulative to a remarkable total of £8.8 million.
First time live action director Andrew Adamson (Shrek / Shrek2) has proved his ability to conquer audiences both in the UK and worldwide with the film opening at $61.7 million in the US – the second largest US December opening of all time behind only the third chapter of The Lord of The Rings – and generating an estimated worldwide sum of $108.8 million across 14 markets, where the film went straight to #1.
thanks to Ciboule